It’s long due but here’s the first full solo interview (in a UK magazine) I’ve seen with Josh Klinghoffer since he joined RHCP; there is a lengthy interview with him in the current edition of Total Guitar (July 2012) which has just gone on sale here.

The interview mentions his guitar equipment, how he came to be in the Chilis and life in RHCP plus his life pre-RHCP and also Dot hacker. There is also a section on the changing sound of RHCP guitarists through the ages.

Read the fully scanned Josh Klinghoffer interview. This is for information only, please buy the magazine if you are interested in the whole feature e.g. the Monarch of Roses tab from Total Guitar online or from your newsagent if resident in the UK 🙂

An interview with Chad Smith for Billboard, that’s just been released, has confirmed that John Frusciante will not be appearing with the other Red Hot Chili Peppers members when RHCP is inducted into the Rock in Rock Hall of Fame; he also confirms that Anthony Kiedis is on the mend and that the band are preparing for the release of another single off I’m With You:

That said, Smith expects the group to be on the road for most of the rest of this year. With Kiedis “on the mend,” the Chili Peppers hit the road again on March 29 in Tampa, Fla., before heading to Europe in June, with some U.S. make-up dates in August and in the fall. So a new album certainly isn’t likely until the end of 2013 at the earliest.

Meanwhile, the Chili Peppers are also prepping for the release of a another single from “I’m With You” (“Brendan’s Death Song”) as well as the group’s April 14 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Smith says the group, which on that night will also include past drummers Jack Irons and Cliff Martinez, will perform at the ceremony as well as host a private party the night before the inductions. Guitarist John Frusciante, however, will not be attending.

“He didn’t feel comfortable coming, which we totally respect,” Smith says. “We asked him… He said, ‘I’m just not really comfortable with that, but good luck and thanks for inviting me.’ It was all good. He’s the kind of guy, I think, that once he’s finished with something he’s just on to the next phase of his life. The Chili Peppers are not really on his radar right now.”

But, Smith adds, that won’t dampen the celebration in Cleveland. “I’m very pleased about it,” he says. “Music’s not a competition. Yeah, you like to win Grammys and stuff, but (the Rock Hall) is different. It’s not like the flavor of the month or the flavor of the year; it’s for a long career we’ve been fortunate enough to have. I’m very humbled, because the people who are in there…it’s not a joke. It’s very cool. So we’re looking forward to it. It’ll be a fun thing. There’s no pressure, like, ‘Are we gonna win?,’ none of that s***. We can just go and have a good time and celebrate with our friends and our families and our fans.”

Red Hot Chili Peppers feature several times in the latest edition of Rolling Stone to hit the bookstands! (It’s the issue with Ziggy Stardust on the cover).
Many thanks to Melanie for letting us know about this and sharing the scans with us.

Transcript:

Red Hot Chili Peppers

The 02, Dublin,November 4th 2011

When he joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2009, guitarist Josh Klinghoffer faced the tough task of convincing fans that he was a worthy replacement for the band’s recently departed slinger, John Frusciante. This Dublin stop on the Chilis’ I’m With You tour proves that Klinghoffer is highly proficient at playing Frusciante’s complex tunes, even if he never sounds as fluid as the man himself. The set list is heavy on the group’s hit period, from Blood Sugar Sex Magik-fueled early Nineties to the early-2000s standouts on Californication and By The Way. “Scar Tissue” sends the crowd into hysterics, and Anthony Kiedis wails an impressive rendition of “Under The Bridge,” whilst still finding time to tell security to go easy on an unruly fan, forward to the end, the band plays a jammed out cover of Neil Young’s 1969 classic “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere,” before wrapping with a frenetic “Give It Away.” Frusciante’s defection may have wounded the Chilis, but it hasn’t been a mortal blow.

Transcript:

Chilis Postpone Tour Due to Kiedis Foot Injury

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have postponed their US tour, which was set to launch on January 20th, so that frontman Anthony Kiedis can recover from multiple foot injuries. The frontman recently underwent surgery to remove a crushed sesamoid bone and correct a detached flexor tendon in his foot,” said the band. Kiedis is expected to fully recover in time for the rescheduled trek, which kicks of March 29th in Tampa, Florida. The Chilis will also be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 14th.

The scans are for your info only; if you can buy this magazine please go out and do so 🙂 You can also subscribe to an online version of the magazineHERE

Look Around is the latest song to be chosen as a single from RHCP’s I’m With You album and two videos have now been released to accompany the song-one the actual music video and the other a behind the scenes look (both below).

The video is based upon four rooms; one for each of the four band members. Each room roughly reflects the band member it belongs too and includes their own art and belongings among the props! The band performed with each person mostly confined to their own room although Anthony Kiedis dances through the rooms at various times. It was filmed in the round in just four takes! The video was directed by Robert Hales. Source

Ret Hot Chili Peppers have a brand new stage set for their current I’m With You tour and RHCP Brazil decided to find out more; they’ve very kindly translated their original article into English and shared the information, interview and photos they have with us.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have started an epic world tour using the very best in the entertainment industry and a very experienced technical team.

Started in Germany on 07th October, the world tour for the new album “I’m With You” has a huge LED Backdrop panels made ??with V28 LSI Saco, a band’s logo drawn on the floor made with 30mm LED from Tait Towers and eight impressive chandeliers that move and expand itself giving dynamism, depth and a three-dimensional performance.

The new stage has an octagonal shape as a base, from the logo of the band on the stage to the trussing and was fully designed by United Visual Artists (or UVA), studio based in London and intersection of sculpture, architecture, live performance, moving image and digital installation.

The RHCP Brazilian website talked to David Bajt, d3 projects leader (UVA’s own software which you will understand more below), and he told many details about the new stage, that although it seems to be a very complex construction, it only takes 2 hours to build it up in those rooms.

Did you receive some briefing from RHCP management to build the stage or the whole creation was 100% by UVA?

It was pretty much 100% UVA design, but of course it had to be realistic in terms of touring, and the band had to like it too.

Are LED Backdrop and chandeliers’ resolution the same? What’s their resolution?

Every chandelier has the resolution 336×336

The backdrop has the resolution 640×240

The floor has the resolution 700×400

There are 8 chandeliers, how they were built? Are they made using LED or another specific material?The LED for the chandeliers are made of SACO v9 panels provided by Nocturne PRG. The chandeliers themselves has been built and engineered by Tait Towers. All movements are controlled by the Tait Navigator system, which sends all position, rotation and expansion data to d3 which automatically maps content onto them, regardless if they are open, closed or rotated.

Do they stay only above the band or they also move towards above the audience?

The screens stay on top of the band, as they form one design together with the floor and the backdrop.

I’ve seen the chandeliers expanding in some music and it looked like it was being opened above each tip of the asterisk. How does it work? Was it inspired on that screen created by Barco for U2 that expands as well?

We used the band’s logo as a key for the design – it’s on the floor, and the screens above the band reflect this in a more abstract way. Expanding screens are not new, but you don’t often see them in this versatile way. They expand using motors at the very top and very bottom of every chandelier, and all the tracking data goes into d3. d3 is our home-made integrated production toolkit, we (UVA) use it for all our installations. Using d3 we can pre-visualize the show in 3d, and use it to sequence all the content / kinetics. During the show we use it to control the video content, screens movements and live camera feeds. Both U2 and this RHCP show use 360 screens, so in that sense it is similar, although the feel to the whole show is very different. U2 also use our d3 system, so that is similar too!

What’s the speed they move?

It’s quick! It takes about 20 sec to go from completely closed to completely expanded.

About lights, animation and screen movement: Is it everything automatic? Or who is in charge to control everything? Once I heard about a control called GrandMA, I don’t know much about this product but is it used?

Yes, the video operator (Leif Dixon) and the lighting designer (Scott Holthaus) both use GrandMa desks, which are used a great deal in the live music industry, usually to control the lighting. There are a lot of things going on during a big show like this – screen movements, video content, lights – and all these elements might all have their own system behind it. We successfully integrated d3 with a GrandMA for the first time, meaning that you can use the GrandMA desk to jump to the next cue in video content, for example. This gives the show controllers a lot more flexibility.

The data from the screen positions comes into d3 automatically, but many of the screen positions and configurations have been programmed in during the production rehearsals. As soon as we get the set list from Anthony Kiedis (this is usually only 15 min before the show) we tell ‘Motion Rob’ who controls the screens to match the screen positions with the content of the songs. The lights and the video are ‘cue-based’, the video operator uses a GrandMa desk to jump to the next cue in d3’s timeline. The band is jamming and adding/reducing bars a lot so it’s impossible to use Midi timecode or similar. This is a real punk-rock band that improvises a lot, so a completely pre-made show would never fit with their musical spontaneity.

About animation and lighting design process, were they made after the stage had been completely finished or was everything planned together?

Some content was planned during the design process but the lighting was sequenced during the production rehearsals. The good thing with d3 is that you can simulate all the video design months before the show opens! These animations were sent to the management and the band for approval.

Some people complained about the fact there is no screen with live images of the band playing, that it could be good for those who are very far from stage. Why do all images have effects? Is it some RHCP decision to avoid illegal video on the internet?

This depends on the show, all of them are different – the ones in London and Germany for instance had a lot of real time camera with and without effects, but maybe you saw a different one?

Who had the idea to make the RHCP logo on the floor using LED? What kind of material have you used to make a great visual effect and also to uphold all equipment above?

It was our idea here at UVA. We only specified the architectural shapes, screen movements, and the requirements of the LED screens (brightness, pixel pitch) and of course specifying how the lighting trusses would be designed. For example you can see that the 3 lighting trusses inside the chandeliers follow the same shape as the logo. It’s all been thought about very thoroughly, you have to when you are working on this scale. Tait Towers, who are specialized in building stages, made sure everything was engineered properly and the whole set works.

But the band put a carpet on stage so it’s almost impossible to see the asterisk, do you know why? Is the surface too flat or smooth?

It’s a very practical and personal reason: Anthony Kiedis has some trouble with his knees, so for some shows they had to put a soft carpet on the floor to accommodate this. This will be replaced with a transparent screen though so the logo is fully visible. The band really like it – in fact Chad requested the elevated drum stage he’s on to be a mesh (it wasn’t at first) so he could see the floor better!

How much weight each video screen has? How much tons approximately has the entire stage?

How long does it take to build the entire stage on the show? There are bands that have more than one set in the next town they’d be playing in order to build it up in time, is it necessary to RHCP?

As designers, we only come up with the idea and how to get it built – so we don’t actually build up the stage. However, RHCP tour management have a very experienced and professional team that tour with the Peppers and build up the stage for their show. We know it only takes approximately 2 hours to build the entire stage!! so this is why they can travel and do a show somewhere else every day.

In terms of logistic, how difficult and expensive can be to bring this stage to Brazil?

Sorry, we don’t know this one either. This is part of the band’s management.

For next year that will have outdoor gigs, stadiums and big arenas, will they use the same stage?

Yes, at least for the US part of the tour. We are not sure what will happen next, this would be up to the band’s management.

All this structure is special for RHCP or it’ll be commercial line in the future?

Featuring the RHCP logo, it’s made especially for RHCP, so it won’t be seen anywhere else.

What are the other bands that UVA works for?

We’ve designed the stages (and content) for bands like Massive Attack and Jay-Z but our production toolkit d3 is used by many bands including U2, Kylie Minogue, Take That, Robbie Williams, Battles, George Michael and many more.

Thank you

More Photos

Credits to: James Medcraft

Many thanks to Altair at RHCP Brazil for sharing this amazing information and for translating it into English too! The original article, in Portuguese, can be seen HERE for anyone interested.

Welcome to another Red Hot year with loads more Chili Peppers concert dates planned so hopefully lots more interviews, photos and news to come!

This website hasn’t been abandonned; real life has got massively in the way this year but hopefully the worst of that is over and I can get back to updating the site.

Just a couple of things… RHCP’s I’m With You album cover was voted the best of the year in the latest edition of Q Magazine. See article HERE

And I’ve just added a gallery of images painted by a John Frusciante fan who painted an album of pictures inspired by John Frusciante’s solo music-song by song! The completed album was sent to JF and the artist received confirmation that John had received the album. Find out more and see the images HERE

On December 7th, the Red Hot Chili Peppers performed a concert in Vienna, Austria, at Wiener Stadthalle Arena.

Universally Speaking got back to the setlist but this time, the surprise was the song American Ghost Dance, from the album Freaky Styley of 1985.
Unfortunately, it was only a snippet because of technical difficulties on
stage. Anthony remembered the lyrics and the fans just loved it.

English Translation(Sorry it’s late here and I’ve just run it through Google translate but it will give you the idea; I’ll try to get a proper translation of it if I can but most of my Italian friends have been running around Germany/are about to go to see RHCP at the weekend).

September 5, 2011 – One has purple hair, bare feet, tattoos, T-shirt of Thelonius Monk: a kid has the look, but do a little ‘marked by time. The other is dressed all in black, has a hoodie, a hint of a beard, a tuft. It has the eyes and face as a boy, looked younger than his 31 years and still seems a little ‘intimidated by the situation.

Flea and Josh Klinghoffer are, or the soul of rhythm (and not only) Red Hot Chili Peppers and the “new” guitarist from Italy have gone today to present “I’m With You”, the disc out of the seventh last (our review here), the first in five years and the first since the second exit from the group of John Frusciante.

Flea is gentle, smooth answers to every question, from the choice of shirt – his love for jazz is well known: “I like it, who does not like Thelonious Monk? As I like the Beatles and as I like to breathe .. “. Then you need to talk about the disc, the new formation: the feeling that the two damage is of great harmony, Josh (who had previously played with the band on tour, for this “new” should be put in quotes) was inserted to perfection, is in full harmony with the rest of the group: “We have a democratic process of composition, each can have its say, and Josh has not only entered, brought his vision,” says Flea. “When we started writing, two years ago,” says Josh, “It ‘was all very natural, we have learned to know each other. There were great difficulties if not now starting things strange to see so many people … Even if they play with this band is a matter of course, we immediately got in touch. ”

“Josh is a very different person from John,” says Flea. “I was very accustomed to him, we played together for so long that now we had our own language. With Josh I learned a new language: I had to leave the past behind and immerse myself in this. ”

Flea has a peaceful relationship with time, and it shows, repeats all the time: “Five years?” Says the inevitable question about the long pause. “We were on tour for ‘Stadium Arcadium’, we took a break, we started to write, and here we are. It ‘was the gravitational pull of our hearts: we ended up playing music. If I think of our tradition, as we started in the ’80s, and where we are now, with arenas, stadiums … Do a great value to our way of doing things. It’s fucking awesome! Then I do not know if it will take another five years for a hard … I know hardly what I will do tomorrow, I am that I am grateful to be on tour and to communicate my ideas, to talk to people. Then we’ll see. “.

As in the past, Flea has no remorse or regrets. Indeed, his mystical streak comes out here too: “I have great memories of what we did: we were so stupid, the fuckers who did not know what they did, who went around mushy … Our Guardian Angels have enabled us to survive , to find something within us that made us grow. No guru, no psychiatrist could have indicated a better way. ” A theme, that of the past, who returns at one of the most intense moments of the album, “Brendan’s death song.” “And ‘dedicated to our friend, a promoter of LA that one function of the first to give us a gig: at that time were not any and he played a major role in the growth of the band, with what he did. Gave us confidence, we felt respected. The first day we played with Josh was one in which we heard about his death. We improvised and that song was born. ”

The mystical vein of Flea returns as he recounts his relationship with music: “I’m a fucking hippie … for me the music comes from a divine place. What I can do is put in a position to slide, to get her to live my life in a location near to this divine place. But I am not religious … ”

Josh looks, smiles, occasionally intervenes with a joke, in a very polite, shy, but not too much. Flea when we go away for a moment in the bathroom, says he has no problem playing the songs that the band has recorded with other guitarists: “John had a problem with the songs ‘One Hot Minute’, the ones that the band was recorded with Dave Navarro. I’ve bought that album and I loved that tour was also the first time I’ve seen the Peppers live. But I know that not even particularly like these other songs. ” He says he wants to continue his solo career: “In the pauses of the tour will my music. But I do not think that will play with John again, “he says – Josh has played in many of Frusciante solo albums, he has recorded a double name and two under the name Ataxia. “John is quite focused on his things, lately.” As for his future role in the Red Hot Chili Peppers, he laughs: “I will be unconscious, become toxic, steal cars. I can not wait “, and then sends a greeting to his Italian friends, Marlene Kuntz and Afterhours, with whom he played live a few times.

Live to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers instead, you have to wait in December, 10 in Turin and Milan 11.